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Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Well, we've finished moving, sort of. That is, we've moved our stuff from one place to the next and have the TV, computer and phone hooked-up. We have not, however, unpacked. Need I mention that I am glad I didn't attempt NaNoWriMo?
Ugh.
I promise to think sci-fi-like thoughts tomorrow.
The good news is that Aaron over at The Soulless Machine Review did a book review for me on my book review blog.
AND Shaun from The World in the Satin Bag has a couple of reviews up as well.
CHECK THEM OUT!

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Hello all. I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday. I'm busy busy busy. I'm going to be moving over the next couple of days and part of the move involves my Internet access. The company I'm using now doesn't service the area I'm moving to so my email address will change. I have a Gmail address that I am using right now, posted right below my avatar.
I won't be able to post for at least a few days-- not that I think it'll matter much right now since it seems so many people are on vacation for Thanksgiving weekend.
Anyway, wish me luck on a smooth move! And I'll let you all know when I'm back.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

It looks like Blade can add another sword-toting half-breed vampire to the club.
A live-action version of Blood: The Last Vampire is coming to theaters next year and courtesy of Angry Asian Man here's a kick-butt still:
Anyone else hoping that Gianna Jun is as cool as Kate Beckinsale was in Underworld???

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

People magazine recently published its 2007 Sexiest Men Alive edition, so I decided to spotlight some of the ones that have Sci-Fi/Fantasy roots.

-Ryan Reynolds: He's had guest appearances on The Outer Limits, The X-Files and Sabrina, The Teenage Witch. But we best remember his sarcastic charm and rock hard body in Blade: Trinity. Here's to hoping he sinks his teeth into another juicy SF role.

-Brad Pitt: Who can forget Pitt's portrayal of Louis de Pointe du Lacthe in Interview With The Vampire? And back then, before Brangelina, his kiss with a young Kirsten Dunst was the talk of the town.

-James McAvoy: He brought to life C.S. Lewis' beloved Mr. Tummus, the faun, in the film adaptation of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. So that makes him our favorite mythological stud. -Johnny Depp: He's been Ichabod Crane, Edward Scissorhands, Captain Jack Sparrow and Willy Wonka. What's not to enjoy about Depp's quirky characters?

-Will Smith: How many times has Will Smith saved the world? I've lost count. He's the actor we turn to when our planet is in big trouble. Next up on the save the universe tour is I AM LEGEND.

-Shemar Moore: He was that hunky guy on the short-lived WB series Birds of Prey. And he's my personal favorite on the list.

-Ben Affleck: He's no Spiderman. But this Daredevil had enough charm to catch Jennifer Garner. And the only thing cooler than their onscreen chemistry is the soundtrack which gave us Evanescence's "Bring Me To Life".

-Will Yun Lee: This season Lee's doing best to make The Bionic Woman live long enough to get picked up next year but he's no stranger to SF/Fantasy. Earlier this year he was a kick-butt angel in the ABC Family mini-series Fallen. And you if actually saw Elektra, then you're remember him from that. He's a good actor, I just hope he gets better SF roles.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Wow, moving day is almost here. This last month has gone by thisfast and I am boggled. We get the keys on Tuesday and we'll be trying to move in over the course of the week, despite the Thanksgiving holiday.
I really wish I had super powers to help with this move. No, I don't want them so I can save humanity, I want them so I can move my couch darnit!
Super Human Strength
Who needs to fly when you have an armoire to lug up the stairs? I think of all the super powers that have ever been dreamt up, super strength would be the most useful for moving furniture, don't you? If I had super strength I wouldn't need to ask 3 or 4 burly men to come over and help me move. Not only would the whole strength thing be useful, I'd end up with happier friends.
Faster-Than-Light Speed
Anyone who has ever had to pay for a rental truck will know why speed is so important. Also, we need to paint a couple of rooms before we move in, so speed is essential. Anyone have a time machine handy?
Magical Ability to Conjure Beer and Pizza
Since I do not have super human strength, my husband has had to find some burly friends to help us out. I'm pretty sure men can be fueled up regularly on beer and pizza and if I could conjure some on a regular basis, I bet I could talk those guys into helping us for a whole extra day! Ha, who needs a time machine now?
Super Human Organizational Skills
Okay, I'm sure this never came up on Superfriends, but I never saw them moving the Hall of Justice. I have literally got boxes up to the ceiling and I have to figure out where they heck they're all going. Oh sure, they're labeled "kitchen" and "bedroom" but you know they're going to end up in the dining room. Then I have to unpack and figure out which cupboard to put the glasses into. It's a nightmare I tell you.
Conjuring Money
You know, now that I think about it, this is the only skill I really need. If I could pull money out of thin air, I could hire someone to do all of this for me. Heck, if I had that kind of money, I could buy a furnished house and not have to mess around with any of this.
Yeah, that's what I want to be. The Super Money Conjuring Woman. Of course, then I'd really need a secret identity-- to hide from my relatives.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

I, like many others, have been waiting for news about the long anticipated X-Files movie sequel.
There seem to be little bits of information coming out tidbit by tidbit and then I got an email announcing the release of a 61 disc DVD collection of all things X-Files. I guess it has every season, the movie and all kinds of extras. Cool. But mostly, when I saw that little goody, I was wondering, does that mean the movie is actually being made??
I think so.
X-Files movie sequel to be shot in VancouverThe X-Files is back and will be seeking out paranormal activity once again in Vancouver.
The second movie based on the TV series that ran from 1993 to 2002 will be shot in Vancouver beginning Dec. 10. It continues the story of special agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, played by the original stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson.
Chris Carter, the original creator, is on board to write and direct the as-yet-untitled movie.
About 100 B.C. crew members are expected to find work on the film.
The first X-Files movie came out in 1998 and there has been buzz about a sequel for years, but it was held up by legal wrangling between Carter and 20th Century Fox.
Fox announced Thursday that the new movie is slated for release in June 2008.
The first five seasons of the TV series were shot in Vancouver, but the later seasons were filmed out of Los Angeles.
Duchovny had given interviews in the 1990s in which he complained about the wet weather in Vancouver and was also reported to want to spend more time with his wife, actress Tea Leoni.
The first X-Files movie was shot in California, New Jersey, London and British Columbia on a budget of about $65 million.
It went on to gross $187 million worldwide and set up the continuing tension between Mulder and Scully for a sequel.
The X-Files and two other paranormal shows of that era, The Outer Limits and Poltergeist: The Legacy helped establish Vancouver as the place to film science fiction.
Finally!
So I guess I can now go watch all 61 DVD's while I wait for the movie to come out. You know, just to refresh my memory and all that. I'm not a freak or anything. Mostly.
For the rest of you freaks I'll put a link up on my sidebar if you want to get more info on the box set.

Monday, November 12, 2007

We're moving in two weeks and yet I still have a pile of books to review. There isn't a single one in the pile I don't want to read and review personally, but I just can't do them all justice right now.
So I NEED volunteers to read AND review a few books for me. Just a few paragraphs for a free book. It's fairly painless, I promise. :D
The first one I have is The Charon Covenant by Brenda Munday Gifford. This is the only straightforward sci-fi book I have at the moment. It's small at 175 pages but has an interesting premise:
In The Charon Covenant, society has been forced to relocate to the moon (known as Earth II). The story's heroine, Dara Drew, discovers that not only can she not trust the government in this new society, she can't trust her neighbors, or her own brother as she accidentally discovers the ugly truth that turns their world upside down.
The next book I have is Master of Shadows by Janet Lorimer. This one falls more into the "chick lit" category-- but hey, I love that too.
As a child, Ariel McPherson was warned about a ferocious creature that allegedly stalked the forest near her family's summer cottage during the full moon. But surely those were merely stories meant to warn a little girl of dangers that lurk in any wood? When her adult world collapses, Ariel takes refuge in the cottage. Forced to go on an errand of mercy during a night of the full moon, Ariel finds legend crashing into reality. She meets a mysterious stranger, Louvel, in the forest. He will not allow her to see his face, but still strangely captures her heart. Then Ariel's life is shattered by a mysterious death; secrets are revealed and suspicions raised. Ariel's search for answers endangers her own life. Louvel may possess powers that can protect and help her...or he may a beast more fearsome than any found in a fairy tale.
And lastly I have Let Me In by John Ajvide Lindqvist. This one pains me the most to get rid of. I have read about 70 pages and it's very good. It definitely falls more into the category of horror fiction and Lindqvist has a wonderful, lyrical quality to his writing. I want to read this one a lot, but I have a lot of other books I'm obligated to read first and I hate to let this one languish on the shelf. Please only take this one if you really can do a review of this book.
Swedish TV and stage writer Lindqvist's first novel is set in a commonplace suburb of Stockholm, where 12-year-old Oskar lives with his mother, is bullied at school, shoplifts, and keeps a scrapbook of notes and clippings about gruesome murders. Eli, apparently about his age, moves in next door but doesn't go to school, leaving the flat only at night. Shortly after, the killings start. At first more fascinated than sorry, since one victim had bullied him, Oskar eventually discovers that Eli is a vampire, stuck permanently in childhood. What should Oskar do, especially when Eli is his friend as much as anyone is? Lindqvist develops the plot in rich detail. The characters, adult and child, are quite convincingly the sort that one would probably cross the street to avoid in any city. Lindqvist also realistically depicts the aftermath of brutal homicide on the nearby: shock and horror, some sleepless nights and bad dreams, despite which you must go to work and get the groceries; eventually, the police leave the neighborhood.
Leave a comment or email me if you're interested in reviewing any of these books. If I get multiple request, I'll do my standard pick-a-name-out-of-a-hat method of picking who to send the book to.
Thanks in advance to anyone who can help!

Sunday, November 11, 2007

SF Girl put up a post on her blog a couple of weeks ago about Christ-like figures in Science fiction and fantasy. What a great topic! So like I so often do, I'm going to steal the idea. :) I am, however, not going to go back and re-read Nina's post because I'll just end up copying it and I try not to be that much of a plagiarist.
I'm kind of amazed I haven't really thought about this before. I'm sure it's something that has been commented on but I haven't seen it spoken of much. When I think of Sci-fi I often think of it as being non-religious because science is so often thought of as the voice of proof against faith.
But when you look at popular sci-fi and fantasy, it's littered with Christ like figures.
The one that comes to my mind most readily is that of Neo from The Matrix. I mean, can a character be more Christ-like when being referred to as "The one?" I suppose on a subconscious level I realized that Neo was being patterned after Jesus, though who God is supposed to be in that particular fairy tale, I don't know.
But Neo has everything it takes to be like Christ. He can perform miracles and gather the faithful. Though I have to admit, I barely finished the third Matrix movie, so I'm not entirely sure if faith was required for man to be saved. Keanu Reeves just wasn't charismatic enough to overcome the script and the CGI of that last one. But you get my point I'm sure. Neo, despite the science of the film, is still kind of a mythic-- almost religious figure. I wonder why. It seems as if we still need something intangible to hold onto, faith in the face of science.
But it's not just science that gets the Christ-like treatment in sci-fi and fantasy. Superman, especially in the latest version of the Superman myth--"Superman Returns"--is IMO deliberately crafted into a Christ figure. There is science behind Superman. He draws power from the Sun and comes from a planet of different gravity. But he is a man separated from his God-like ancestors and though he could be self-serving if he wanted to, he fights for mankind, putting his life between that of mortal man and that which would destroy us. I found the scene in "Superman Returns" in which Superman sits over his son and says "The son becomes the father, and the father becomes the son," especially telling. I'm not entirely sure what the point of the scene was meant to be, but I can't help but think the God-like Superman was looking upon his son as a Jesus-figure (half-human Son of God/Son of Superman) that would take his place as the savior of mortal man.
And what about resurrection? I can't begin to think of how many times I have seen my favorite sci-fi characters resurrected after we assume they're dead. In fact, this has happened so many times that I am surprised when the hero isn't brought back from the dead. C.S. Lewis openly used Christian themes when he created "The Chronicles of Narnia," but a lot of sci-fi also taps into the Christian theme of resurrection. Spock came back from the dead for crying out loud.
So I guess I'm just wondering why. Why is it that science fiction, that is often supposed to be more about the rational mind, falls back on our religious superstitions? Is it simply that the creators of our favorite fiction find themselves going back to their childhood traditions? Even unconsciously? Or is science simply not enough to fill our need to know why we are here?
Something to think about, no?

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Well, they're doing it. They're really doing it.
They're remaking Knight Rider.
Knight Rider Star Cast
All My Children hunk Justin Bruening is set as the lead in NBC's two-hour backdoor pilot Knight Rider, a Transformers-inspired sequel to the 1980s series, which is slated to air as a movie later in the season, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Bruening will play the son of Michael Knight, the character played by David Hasselhoff in the original series. And like father, like son; the choice of Bruening closely resembles Hasselhoff's casting a quarter-century ago.
Like Bruening, Hasselhoff was a soap star (The Young & the Restless) with few other credits when he landed Knight Rider. He was almost the same age as Bruening, who is 28.
Steve Shill is set to direct and co-executive-produce Rider, which was penned by Dave Andron. Doug Liman and Dave Bartis are executive-producing for Universal Media Studios and Dutch Oven Productions. Andron serves as supervising producer. (NBC and Universal Media Studios are both owned by NBC Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.)
I'm speechless.
And what the heck do they mean by "Transformer inspired?"

Sunday, November 04, 2007

On my book review blog. CHECK IT OUT
I expect to have a couple of books up for grabs for any interested guest reviewers soon. I need some help. But remember, this isn't just a free book, you gotta offer a basic summary and opinion.
I'll let you know what I've got soon.

Thursday, November 01, 2007

Oooooohhhhhhhhhhhhh! There are some gooood giveaways going on right now.
Pat's Fantasy Hotlist is giving away a FULL SET of K. J. Parker's Engineer Trilogy. I am so tempted to keep this to myself because I am dying to get my hands on this. But I'm weirdly superstitious and afraid of bad karma.
The Fantasy Book Critic has THREE FULL SET of books to give away. He's got Joel Shepherd's Cassandra Kresnov series. I'm not familiar with this one, but it looks good.
Graeme had a copy of the Twilight Herald to give away. This one would be a good one to enter because it's not an easy book to find.
If I run across anymore giveaways I'll add them to this list.
Good luck everyone!